MEN Only -- A.I.M Challenge: Labor Day Challenge OPEN

This is a Motivation/Challenge designed for Men.  This is a continuation of the April Fool's Challenge and the July 4th Challenge for men started by pinksalmon.

Pick your personal goal: Weight Loss, Increased Fitness, or Fat Burn.  Post it and commit to it.  This forum is here to challenge you to meet your goal.  The Purpose of the AIM Challenge is to provide:

1.  Accountability:  Weekly check in to update your progress.  Weigh in each Wednesday Morning. 
2.  Information:  We will share our experiences, what is working to get into shape, nutritional suggestions, fitness advice, and best practices for results.
3.  Motivation:  Encouragement to make and continue life changes that lead to burning fat, increased fitness, and overall health.

Challenges follow a quarterly time frame and are open to any men willing to commit.  Do you want it?  We are getting it DONE!

AFC Result:  277.5 lbs and 971,250 calories burned off
J4C Result:  172.6 lbs and 604,100 calories burned off
2008 combined total: 450.1 lbs and 1,575,350 calories burned off

Check out our previous challenges here:
http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/716 05.html

Want your current BMR?  check out Phord's BMR page 

Check out our results:  AIM Challenge Results

Original Post by bubbaluffaguss:

Fitness goals? Well, I just started the Couch to 5K program. When I say just started I mean today was day 2 of week 1 for me so I won't be finished with it by the time that this challenge is over but I should be well on my way.

Bubba, I spent 6 months on the "9 week" Ct5k program in 2006.  Week 1 was HARD for me but doable.  Week 2 was hard, but ok.  Week 3 was tougher, and I was so afraid of week 4 that I stayed on week three for 5 weeks.  :-)

Now I run a 5k three times a week, and I ran a 10k a couple of weeks ago.

Good luck, and stick with it.  It works!

wiliwigi - Average temperature right now is about 105 so my running is done indoors right now. There is a fine line between hard-core and stupidity. I am definitely going to be taking it slow. I don't think I'm going to have that much of an issue with the endurance aspect of it. I'm more worried about the higher impact. All of my cardio so far has been of the low/no impact variety (walking, stationary bike, elliptical). I was going to wait a little while before trying the running but I think I need to shake up my routine a little.

phord - I was thinking about going 2 weeks per level. I guess I will see how it goes first. If I can move up I will but I'm not going to push it.

Congrats on the 10k! It sounds like you're hooked. I have never been too keen on running. I used to be in the military and that was always my least favorite thing about PT. Another reason I'm not going to push it too hard.

WOW! Lot of energy out there from the old studs and the new dudes.

Sorry I missed the weigh-in.  I've been working too much.  However, I've been keeping up with my workouts. 

I'm at 224.  No movement.  Abner, Bobev you guys are inspiratonal.  I'm proud to be a member.

Keep working.  Good luck to the Shark.  53 years old.  Very cool.  I'll be running in the morning and then watching the open.

SRQ

Got it done! I did the 1st c2k session and was able to do the 60 sec intervals w/o exceeding hr max set by cardiologist. Exertion scale was good to. Funny thing tho how working out affects my bp. I can feel it dropping when I finish a workout since I get a different sensation throughout my body. I just took it was 106/66, systolic drops 20+ and diastolic almost 10 from my rising bp, and that is before taking morning meds. I guess the exercise causes all the drugs to try and counteract the increases due to exercise.

Thanks sarasota I appreciate it. I'm just trying to be as healthy as I ever was. I don't have the energy or time to survive another weight gain, attempt to lose cycle. This has to be my last time through it. I'll tell yas tho - I'm having more fun this time and its exciting as heck!

Finished my 5 Mile race today. ... Good time with about 1000 runners.  Weather was Hot and VERY Humid ... which took its toll and finished 45:30 (9:05), which was about my 10K pace and had planned for a 8:30 pace and 42:30 finish.

I must have sweat out like 5 - 6 lbs because I drank at each waterstop and after race had 16 oz of water, banana and orange and donut after race and was still down 3+ lbs.

It was a good workout and Good news is no discomfort of Knee.  So I guess backing off on miles last three weeks, although did not help my time did seem to help for push towards 1/2 Mary.  Next race is in 4 weeks and 10 mile distance would have been a long road based on todays race.

Time to get Back to Business!!

rk1 way to go man! A finish is a finish.  Running in the humidity and heat will always take away from your time.  I imagine you will see a marked improvement in your splits come this fall.  Even better news about your knee. 

How is your training different for the 10 miler next month?  What are you doing about hydration and calories.  I have had many people recommend gels in addition to sports drink and water.  Also, have you changed the socks you run in?  I have been noticing that my old cotton standards are causing some foot problems as the humidity and distance and sweat increase.

sarasota it looks like the shark did not close the deal.  But, he did get the money and the girl.

TIP of the Day: With weigh in tomorrow, stay away from the Chinese Take Out and pizza today!

ww

Great job, rk1. Don't underestimate the effects of heat and humidity on performance. An 80 degree day can slow down your time in a 5 mile race anywhere between 90 seconds and 2 minutes (compared to a 60 degree day with low humidity). Just keep training and you'll be pleasantly surprised by your improvements once the cooler weather returns. I'm definitely feeling the effects of heat/humidity during my training runs, as I'm currently running slower than I was during the spring.

In terms of hydration/gels/calories, while I recommend staying with sports drinks and water for races and training runs under 13 miles, I highly suggest experimenting with gels once your long runs get longer than that. And for those planning to run a marathon, I'd check with the race officials or on the website to see which sports drink they plan to provide for the race, and then to use the same drink during your long runs. The last thing you want is for your body to get used to Gatorade and then react badly on race day because all they served at the water stations was Accelerade or some other brand that you know nothing about.

WW,

I booked the Marathon and Hotel for Columbus Marathon October 19th! I am Committed!!  Now time to bust my butt and get back in line or my family will be waiting 6 hours for me! 

Plan was to run the latest local marathon I could find and it was Novemeber 2nd, but turns out past years was really low turn out like < 200 and did not want to try to grind out 26 miles in isolated wilderness of nature trails .... Give the Crowds and Music!

Columbus Marathon is not as big as a lot of major marathons but they got like 8,000 runners last year so should be a good time.  Last 8 miles goes around OSU campus and right by "The Shoe".

10 miler - Planning on running more during middle of day (at least my tue/thur Shorter Runs) to get used to body dealing with heat and energy consumption.  I ran at lunch today, Actually weather was pretty cool compared to last weekend but with high noon sun and realtive warmth still got a pretty good sweat going.  Like they saying goes "what does not kill you makes you stronger".  I have to asume Aug 17th will be a warm muggy day and avoiding the heat will just hurt me in the end.

I am looking forward to the Cool NE Ohio weather coming soon, foretunately our real Hot months are only July/Aug.  Sept/oct/Nov will be nice running and then you will hear my bitch about our winters again, because when December rolls around things won't be pretty for next 4 months. 

WRM,

Thanks for the encouragement and given fact I ran Really light three weeks before I am OK with the time.  Really stoked about legs feel awesome, next day never even felt sore and could barely tell I just ran a 5 mile race.  Did some heavy elliptical yesterday for Cardio and follwed up with a 4 mile run tioday and felt good.  I have been back on a better diet (Not quite as strick as initial CC when I lossed 35 lbs, but still been at 700 - 1000 deficit with running that I want to be) and realize a way to go to meet fall racing goals and will have to get down to 175 lbs to have a shot of pulling this off.

I feel a actual loss coming on tommorow and should be below 185 lbs.

SRQ, 

Did you hook us up for a Race between 12/20 - 12/30?  Only race i can find in area is that Manatee Run in Brandenton (5 Miler) which should be good.  I think its on 12/27.

PeachTree-er's

I checked out the site and looks like a great race.  Maybe we get a CC reunion together for that week next year and i will fly down and run the race.

Congrats for those Finished!

 

rk1: OCT 19th!! Running in the middle of the day!?! Dude, you win the REAL MAN Award! You are turning into the running machine. 

rk has predicted a loss, anyone else?

199 and holding.  I have got to stop eating back my deficits.

Completed wk 1/day 2 of c25k training. Went well. On the last jog, the 8th, I was going up a slight hill and my hr hit 122. I could feel that I was at an exertion level of about 7, I could talk to myself but didn't want to. The funny thing is that on the other intervals my max hr was 115 +/-, then would climb a few beats after the transition to walking, before coming down into the low 90's. Boy the drugs I'm on behave weird... I don't know what to expect. If anyone else monitors hr like I have to (for whatever reason) I'd like to compare notes.

Anyway, I am looking forward to wk 1/day 3 on Friday. Will probably go to the gym tomorrow and use the C2 rower and use the c25k podcast to time intervals and see how many meters I can row. I've been doing about 5300 in 30 minutes with the way I have been training on it.

Weight: 166.4 this morning, up a lb from yesterday! Still its down 2.6 from 7/10 and it looks more like I'll make my 165 initial goal before labor day. The wogging and interval training has helped accelerated the loss. That and an F4 that lies because of the drugs I take and gives me low calories burned. I'll keep using its numbers since I have the eating routine under control.

I misssed the last weigh in day because I was out of town.

My weight today is 250 lbs.  Too much eating out at restaraunts.  Now I am back on my program.

 

Original Post by bobev:

Completed wk 1/day 2 of c25k training. Went well. On the last jog, the 8th, I was going up a slight hill and my hr hit 122. I could feel that I was at an exertion level of about 7, I could talk to myself but didn't want to. The funny thing is that on the other intervals my max hr was 115 +/-, then would climb a few beats after the transition to walking, before coming down into the low 90's. Boy the drugs I'm on behave weird... I don't know what to expect. If anyone else monitors hr like I have to (for whatever reason) I'd like to compare notes.

I have a data collector for my HRM. Here's my graph for the Peachtree:

Peachtree Road Race 10k HRM data

My HRMax is around 215. That flat bit near the beginning at 100bpm is me standing around at the start line in the morning sun.

My RHR (resting heart rate) is about 50 bpm. That's down from 65 a few years ago. w00t!

Next month I'm paddling in the USACK National Competition in sprint flatwater kayaks and canoes.  I've coached kayaking a few times, but I've never raced!  Yikes!

Today's weigh-in: 177

CW:  184.4 lbs

LW: 187 lbs

LDC: 175 lbs

Lost this week and below 185 after teatering between 185 - 188 lbs.  feel good logging food for the week and back to full swing for training.  I need to treat 185 like 190 or 200 and not head back over the top until I get to 180 and then thats the ceiling...

Took a look back at site I think WRM showed me and every 1 lb estimates additional +/- 1:10 in a marathon for me (theoretically).   Easiest 12 minutes and 4% savings I think I can get in next 3 months.

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/weighte ffect.php

Anyone ever really look into lactate threshold (Basically pace you can go all out for 60 minutes or similiar to 10K pace) and training based on this?  I have been reading up on it and seems like it makes a lot of sense based on my past performances as once you breeach the threshold the lactic acid goes through the roof rather quick and your performance drops dramitically.  Seems the in fashion is Vo2Max, but that seems mostly genic and hard to change more than 10%, were studies are showing most people can push their Lactate Threshold 25 - 50% through proper training. 

 WW,

In regards to socks I did switch to non cotton.  Old socks did not seem to bother me (more than used to after wearing 39 years), but I got some synthetic blend socks (like 30% cotton) a month ago and they do stay dry.  Also after last race went out and bought some better racing shirts and shorts (My little short shorts).  Heck if going to pretend to be a runner might as well look the part ... right.

still at 210 lbs, 

Original Post by phord:

Original Post by bobev:

>snip< The funny thing is that on the other intervals my max hr was 115 +/-, then would climb a few beats after the transition to walking, before coming down into the low 90's. Boy the drugs I'm on behave weird... I don't know what to expect. If anyone else monitors hr like I have to (for whatever reason) I'd like to compare notes.

I have a data collector for my HRM. Here's my graph for the Peachtree:

Peachtree Road Race 10k HRM data

My HRMax is around 215. That flat bit near the beginning at 100bpm is me standing around at the start line in the morning sun.

My RHR (resting heart rate) is about 50 bpm. That's down from 65 a few years ago. w00t!
>snip<

Thanks Phord. Funny thing is my RHR is 50, but its drug enduced. It was even lower, 42-44, pre-heart attack when on different medications. Your hr stayed fairly steady and didn't spike like mine did. Its got to be my meds. I'll just have to see what happens as I do the c25k program.

I don't know if this is a scale glitch or what. Seems like a big loss for one week. I guess I'll have to wait and see if it is legit.

Last week: 278

This week:274

Phord: What HRM are you using that records heart rate? I might be interested in acquiring one.

bubbaluffaguss: 4 lbs is not surprising. Weight Watchers has said to target 1-2% per week for weight loss. So your are within that. To make a lifestyle change, I prefer trying to lose less. I've been at WW goal weight twice before and wasn't able to maintain it for more than a year or so. I'm under my ww goal this week for the first time in 20 years and think it will be easier to maintain because of the lifestyle adjustments we (wife and I) have been making. Frankly, at my age, I don't enough time to go through another gain/loss cycle and intend to get even "smaller" over time since the original ww goal is now considered overweight even by ww!

Original Post by bobev:

Phord: What HRM are you using that records heart rate? I might be interested in acquiring one.

I already had a HRM strap and watch I received as a gift.  But I wanted some way to look at trends.  Luckily, I found a data collector for the watch&strap I already had.  I think I found it on eBay.  Google Checkout has 'em for about $45, without the chest strap.

Timex Data Recorder

I figured I'd sell it on eBay again when I got tired of it, but it hasn't happened yet.  But the battery appears to have died last week.  :-(  Time for a new one (CR2032).

Original Post by phord:

I already had a HRM strap and watch I received as a gift.  But I wanted some way to look at trends.  Luckily, I found a data collector for the watch&strap I already had.  I think I found it on eBay.  Google Checkout has 'em for about $45, without the chest strap.

Timex Data Recorder

I figured I'd sell it on eBay again when I got tired of it, but it hasn't happened yet.  But the battery appears to have died last week.  :-(  Time for a new one (CR2032).

Bobev, 

I just ordered the following HRM

http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar/pol ar-F11-grey.html#DetailedFeatures

Did some brief research and looks like does everything I would need and similiar to the Timex (at least in features) and was $159 with free shipping compared to $239 for the Timex.  Does not have seperate data collector but appears to store 12 workouts at a time and with a datalink to load to PC and/or their web service.

We shall see how it works and will update after a week or so, but with trying to focus on improving my Lactate threshold (LT) I am looking forward to tracking better and be able to upload work out date to see improvements and/or effects on different workouts.